BMW has just confirmed our suppositions from last week: the future Megacity Vehicle will be built at the Leipzig plant.The center piece of the Project i program, Megacity Vehicle, or MCV as know internally, will debut in mid-2003 and will roll off the production line at the aforementioned plant. The lightweight carbon parts needed for the MCV will be manufactured at Landshut and then shipped for assembly in Leipzig.
The BMW Group is developing BMW Plant Leipzig to produce an electric vehicle and making additional investments in a number of facilities in Bavaria. In a joint venture with SGL Carbon, SGL Automotive Fibers GmbH & Co KG, carbon fibre fabrics will be produced in Wackersdorf and processed to CFRP components for the new vehicle at BMW Plant Landshut.
Norbert Reithofer, Chairman of BMW AG, confirmed clearly the company’s commitment to Germany as an industrial centre: “The BMW Group will build the car of the future in Leipzig with high-tech innovations from Bavaria. The main reasons behind this decision are the qualities that Germany has to offer: we have a tried and tested production network here and high levels of education and outstanding competencies at our disposal.”
With this decision to produce in Leizpig, Landhsut and Wackersdorf, the BMW Group is preparing for series production of a car known by its project name of Megacity Vehicle. With this new automobile, the BMW Group will be providing an innovative solution for sustainable mobility in urban environments. It is being developed as part of project i and is due to reach the market in the first half of this decade under a sub-brand of BMW.
